"Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26Mercedez Marisol Flores went to Pulse nightclub almost every weekend, Flores' sister-in-law said Monday, often with her best friend Amanda Alvear. Both women died in the shooting.""She was very outgoing,"" Nancy Flores said of Mercedez Flores. ""She had lots of friends. They used to always meet up at Pulse.""Born in Queens, New York, the 26-year-old Flores moved to Florida when she was a child, her sister-in-law said. She worked at Target and studied at Valencia College, a local community college. She wanted to become a party planner so she could coordinate events with her two older brothers, who are both DJs.Alvear, 25, had bonded with friend Sandy Marte over breakups and health problems. Marte said he was trying to comfort her after the breakup. She had lost a lot of weight following gastric bypass surgery and Marte encouraged her to socialize and enjoy life.""She was loving, she was caring, she always had an open ear, she always wanted to help people,"" Marte said of his friend Alvear. ""She had an amazing heart. She was a really good person.""Both women posted on Snapchat from the nightclub before the shooting.Flores' family spent hours waiting at Orlando Regional Medical Center, then a staging area at a nearby hotel.Someone came to read the names of victims still hospitalized or being released. Mercedez Flores' name wasn't on the list.It wasn't until the early hours of Monday that her father got a call from the sheriff's office that his daughter had died, Nancy Flores said.Marte said a post from Alvear on Snapchat showed a packed club full of revelers, flashing lights and thumping music. Then a selfie video of Alvear with a series of gunshots in the background.Marte said he understands what it's like to be at a nightclub during a shooting. He was at the Glitz Ultra Lounge in Orlando in February when two people were killed. He said he froze in place from the shock of it."
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